Beauty in Rags
by AoiCherry
Summary: The harmonic voices of the two beggars, Rin and Miku, attracted and enchanted everyone who passed by, making them stop and listen to their song. One day, the two girls caught the eyes of a young man named Kaito. "How would you two like to audition to become idols?" His offer signals a turning point in the girls' lives. In addition, another boy, Len, asks Rin to be his "model"!
1. When They First Met

**Hi! So I've been obsessed with Vocaloid songs recently, and I wanted to write a fic for it, but never really got to it since I haven't written or updated my other Naruto fics in so long. But one day, my friend and I saw an old lady beggar while we were on his car, and my friend happened to see an old man in the car behind us who was also staring at the old lady beggar. He even joked that maybe the "old man had fallen in love at first sight with the old lady". Then, I thought, "Hey, that's a great idea for a fic!" So…this happened. Haha, I hope you enjoy this first chapter! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Vocaloid, and this disclaimer holds for the rest of this fic.**

* * *

**Beauty in Rags**

Chapter 1: When They First Met

The city of Osaka is a popular tourist spot, has lots of delicious Japanese food, and is home to many people who are well-off in society. However, this city also serves as a "home" to many people who don't have a house to go back to. Among these homeless people are two young women, who have supported each other ever since their parents were killed in the tuberculosis epidemic that spread among the homeless population four years ago.

Almost every day, the girls would try to make a living by singing on the streets. Many people have donated money to them, captivated by their voices, while others merely listened closely, and let themselves get lost in the two girls' beautiful harmony.

**When I touched your wound, you were shaking slightly **

**Not knowing where to go, you were looking at the distant sky **

**It's not like I want the answer to the pain in my heart **

**As long as you're here I just need to fulfill my promise**

**Until the tears that are left fade away there's a sad shine **

**I embrace it very strongly, as if there's nothing to bear**

**The motionless feelings will go with the tomorrow we'll spend together **

**There is a thing that blocks that light, I will flick it away **

**The breaking world is now starting to show the meaning of "echo" **

**I make an oath in my heart to protect you, forever...**

"Do you guys hear something?" A short haired brunette asked her friends.

"Yes, Meiko. It's a nice song," commented her pink haired companion.

A young blond man who had his hair tied in a small ponytail slightly raised his head and continued, "I hear it coming from over there." Saying so, he led the group to a park.

* * *

Once the group arrived, all of them were surprised to see two young women dressed only in thin, gray rags. One of them was petite and had short blond hair that was slightly dirtied. Her large blue eyes shone like the sunlight reflected ocean waves. The other girl was slightly taller and had long teal colored hair that flowed down her back, past her waist, to her knees, as if it was a waterfall. Her teal colored eyes sparkled with life, just like her partner's, even though their appearance was unsightly.

The group of friends, just like any other spectator, fell prey to their captivating voices and perfectly synchronized dance moves, and only snapped out of their dream-like states when the duo stopped singing and thanked the audience.

"Thank you for listening to our song, 'Promise'!" The teal haired girl spoke, and bowed together with the blond girl.

Many of the spectators took out their wallets and dropped coins ranging from 10 yen to 500 yen into the small cardboard boxes in the two girls' outstretched hands.

"Poor girls. I'm sure they're only around our age," the brunette in the group commented. She took out her wallet, searched through it and sighed, "I used up all of my money, thanks to you, stupid Kaito. How can you forget your wallet when you go out?"

The blue haired male beside her gave a guilty smile and held up the shopping bags he was holding. "Sorry Meiko, I'll definitely pay you back, but Gakupo also wanted me to buy his stuff for him too. If it was only my stuff, you wouldn't be broke. "

"Gakupo can't help it either, Kaito. You know he's on a trip to Kyoto for his Japanese History project," the pink haired girl defended as she looked through her wallet.

"Speaking of his trip, why didn't you go with him, Luka?" the younger blond boy asked as he slid out a 1000 yen bill from his wallet.

"I still have my college assignments to complete, Len," Luka answered. "It's summer break, but I still need to start working on my next project for Art History." She then fished out a 1000 yen bill and the group walked over to the two singers.

Luka placed her 1000 yen bill in Miku's box while Len put his bill in Rin's box. "You girls have lovely voices. I hope you will two keep singing with the same happiness as you did today," Luka complimented and patted the two girls' heads.

Len on the other hand stayed quiet and stared at the smaller girl. His own blue eyes piercing into the girl's equally blue orbs. "You're a good model."

The girl blinked and tilted her head in question. _"Model?" _she thought. Before she could ask him what he meant, him and the rest of the group had already started to leave.

"What if he's a scout or something, Rin?" The teal haired girl said excitedly. "Maybe he meant you could be a runway model or something!"

Rin shook her head. "That's impossible Miku. I'm basically all bones. Plus, he looks like he's the same age as I am."

Miku pouted. "Aw, I was wishing that a stroke of luck might hit us or something. Oh well, I'm happy we made a lot today!"

* * *

"I'm back," greeted Len after entering his dorm room.

"Hey, how was gathering info?" A silver haired male asked, not turning away from his laptop screen.

"I think I found a good model," Len answered.

"That's good. By the way, I think may I need a new cable to join my laptop to our TV," the silver haired male replied.

"Piko, why do you even need to connect them?" Len asked.

Piko turned around in his chair. "We can watch movies, anime, anything, through streaming and we wouldn't need to pay for cable. Well, we're not actually even allowed to install cable by ourselves, according to the rules. It's a win-win situation, Len."

"You and your love for technology," Len chuckled. "It's a great advantage though. I'm glad you're helping me with starting my own manga."

"You're hopeless with Photoshop and any other editing program, Len," Piko teased. "You should just stick to drawing by hand."

"That's what I love anyway," Len replied. He went over to his desk, where there was a sketchbook, opened it to a fresh page, and started to draw a rough sketch of the girl he saw today, whose eyes were as blue and as deep as the sea.

* * *

"Did you need me to go to the store with you, Piko?" Len sighed. Him and his roommate, Piko, were currently walking back to their dorm after Piko dragged Len to go to the electronics store with him. The silver haired male had spent an hour and a half searching for things he needed to tinker with the electronics he currently has. _"I could've had tons of ideas for my manga right now,"_ Len thought as he took a look at his watch. _"It's already nine."_

All of a sudden the two boys heard a shriek and at the same time, a girl was thrown on the sidewalk, out of an alleyway, with a seemingly drunk man staggering behind her. "What the…"Piko gasped. He and Len were about to stop the man when a small girl threw herself out of the alley and onto the man's back, putting a choke hold on his neck.

Len's eyes widened as he recognized the petite girl. "It's the girl from today," he muttered. He looked at the other girl on the ground and realized that it was the petite girl's companion.

The drunk man took a hold of Rin's collar and threw her harshly on the ground as well. "What are ya girls if not prostitutes, huh? Ya don't have any right to talk back, dirty beggars!" The drunk man drawled as he staggered towards the girls. Miku scrambled to Rin and helped her up. Before the drunk man could attack the girls again, Len took a hard drive out of Piko's bag and flung it at the man's head. The drunkard turned to Len and Piko. "Ya guys are scrawny. Lookin' for a fight, little boys?"

As the drunkard charged towards Len and Piko, Piko dodged sideways while Len aimed for the drunk man's feet and slid, making him fall. Using two long cables that he just bought, Piko swiftly tied the man's hands and feet tightly, rendering him harmless, then immediately knocked him out. His heterochromatic eyes searched for the hard drive that Len threw and saw that the small blond girl had picked it up.

The two girls walked towards them and bowed. "Thank you very much for saving us." When the two girls took a closer look at the boys, they recognized Len from earlier. Len warned, "You two shouldn't be out in a dark alleyway this late."

"We were just taking a shortcut to the convenience store," the blond girl replied in a small voice. She gently pushed Piko's now cracked hard drive into his chest, earning a thank you from the silver haired boy.

"We wanted to buy something for the others since they didn't have enough money to buy food," the tealette continued.

"Be careful next time though. You never know who else can attack," Piko warned.

The girls nodded. "Thank you." They then scurried off, past Piko and Len.

"She was the model I was talking about," Len said. "The blond girl."

"Ah, she was pretty cute," Piko commented. He glanced at his now unusable hard drive, then at the cables that were used to tie the now unconscious drunkard, then at Len. "You're coming with me to the store again." The blond boy sighed and went along with Piko's wish, since he was the one who threw the hard drive after all.

* * *

The next day, Len decided to go back to the place where he first heard the two girls in rags perform so that he could start working on creating his characters for his new manga. On the train, he bumped into his close friend, Kaito.

"Len, where were you going?" Kaito asked.

"I wanted to ask the blond performer yesterday if I could use her as a model," Len replied.

"For your manga?" Kaito asked, and Len nodded. The bluenette continued, "Those two sung really well together. I was going to see them perform one more time too."

Once they reached their destination, Kaito and Len made some small talk as they walked to where the two girls they saw the day before performed.

Just like the day before, there was a large crowd gathered where the girls were performing. They just finished their song when Len and Kaito arrived and were already collecting donations from the onlookers. Once the crowd dispersed, Kaito gave a friendly wave towards the girls as him and Len approached them. "Would you girls be interested in grabbing lunch with us? Our treat," Kaito offered. Len raised one of his eyebrows but decided to go along with Kaito.

The two girls looked at each other, then at Kaito and Len, and nodded simultaneously with the idea of a free lunch in mind. They went to a nearby restaurant and since the girls couldn't read the menu, Len ended up ordering for Rin and Kaito ordered for Miku. While waiting for their orders to arrive, they started talking. "So, what are your names?" Kaito asked. He pointed at himself and continued, "I'm Kaito Shion, and this, " he pointed at Len, "is Len Kagamine."

The teal haired girl spoke, "I'm Miku Hatsune." She then pointed at the blond girl, "And this is Rin Hatsune."

"You two are related?" Len asked.

"No. Rin just took my last name since her parents passed away first, and I basically think of her as my little sister," Miku replied. "Even though both our of parents are gone I think we've been doing pretty well earning money. I think if we keep it up, we'll be able to climb out of poverty!"

Kaito smiled and complimented, "You're pretty optimistic. It's cute, really."

Not used to being praised so openly, Miku gave him a dazzling smile and lightly blushed. "Thank you very much."

"Be careful of him, Hatsune-san," Len warned jokingly. "He may look nice but he actually works at a host club."

"Um, you can just call me Miku," the tealette responded.

"Hey Len, you shouldn't tell them that so easily," Kaito half-complained.

The blond boy chuckled then turned to Rin. "Rin, can I call you Rin?" The blond girl nodded and Len continued, "I would like to ask a favor. Right now, I'm trying to create a manga, and I would like to use you as a model for one of my characters. Would that be ok?"

"Oh, so that's what you meant by model," Rin realized. "The other day you mentioned something about a model too. I'd be happy to be your model, Len."

"Great! Do you two perform at that park every day? Since you don't have cell phones I guess it'd be best to come and meet you if I wanted to talk about my manga," Len suggested.

"That's fine with me," Rin agreed, happy that she could help out the person who got her and Miku out of trouble.

"I would also like to ask you girls something," Kaito said. "I'm a first year student at Osaka University majoring in Musicology and Theater Studies, and I thought that you two sung very well. I can tell, even though I only heard the last few lines of your song. So, I would like to ask you two if you were interested in auditioning for a chance to debut as idols."

Miku's and Rin's eyes widened and both girls' smiles widened. Miku immediately nodded her head yes multiple times while Rin just stared at Kaito in awe. A few seconds later, the waitress arrived with their food. Kaito continued, "I'll get back to you with the details later."

Rin slurped her Udon noodles and almost immediately Len could see her eyes literally sparkle. "Is this your first time eating Udon noodles, Rin?" Len asked.

Rin nodded. "Miku and I could only afford instant ramen and bentos from the convenience stores since we grew up on the streets. I've never tasted anything from a restaurant. This is really good!" Rin squealed excitedly.

Miku on the other hand hadn't started eating yet. Instead, she was poking at the yellow folded omelet with her spoon. "Kaito-san what did you order?" she asked.

"It's called Omelet Rice," Kaito replied. "Inside the folded omelet, there's fried rice."

Miku tore the omelet open and sure enough, there was rice inside. She scooped the rice with a part of the omelet and put it in her mouth. Just like Rin, her expression lit up. "The egg's fluffy! And the rice is delicious! Nothing like the rice in the instant bentos we always eat," Miku rambled.

The girls finished devouring their food in a few minutes while the boys took much longer to finish. Rin and Miku thanked the boys for their treat and once they finished paying, Kaito glanced at his phone and said he had to go since he had something to do with Meiko. Rin and Miku were about to leave as well, when Len grabbed Rin's wrist. "Is it ok if I borrow her for a while longer?" He asked Miku.

She just nodded happily and said, "You can borrow her for as long as you want. I'm going to walk around for a little while." She then happily skipped out of the restaurant. Despite wearing torn clothing and having long, dirtied hair, Miku shone with happiness as she exited the restaurant, drawing stares from the people around.

"She's always like that," Rin said. "Her happiness is infectious. I'm glad she was always by my side all these years."

"You're quite happy yourself," Len commented.

"There were times when I almost gave up trying to even live on, but Miku was the one who supported me and got me up every time I feel down. I'm kind of jealous of her ability to always cheer people up," Rin admitted.

"You have quite the sunny personality yourself," Len complimented.

"Haha, not really. I'm as happy as the next person on the streets," Rin said.

Len stared into Rin's blue orbs, as if he was analyzing her personality. They say eyes are the window to your soul, and Len definitely saw the years of wear and tear that the young girl had to go through in order to survive the harsh outside world. The strength and pain that was evident in her eyes made Len want to know more about her so that he could have a better grasp on her personality for his manga character. But more than that, he wanted to help her; he wanted to show her the world that normal, middle-class teenagers experience. He then reached for a napkin, asked a waitress for a pen, and started writing down his cell phone number.

"If you ever feel like talking, or if you ever run into an emergency, use a nearby public phone and call me," Len offered. He slid the napkin on the table towards Rin.

The blond girl picked it up and said, "You're very nice."

"Not really. I'm also using you as a model so it's fair that I give you something in return," Len replied.

"Thank you very much," Rin thanked. "I think I should get going now. I've taken up a lot of your time."

"No worries," Len said. "I look forward to working with you." He then stood up from his chair and bowed.

Rin scrambled to get up and bowed as well. "Me too. I hope to help you in any way I can with your manga."

* * *

**So, here's the first chapter! I've already thought about what pairings I want in this fic, and I've also already decided on what pairings will be endgame. I've already hinted in this chapter that Gakupo and Luka are dating, but what about Rin, Miku, Len, Kaito, Meiko, and Piko? Since I've already decided on the pairs, I hope everyone will stick with me and read through until the very end, even if the pairs may not be to everyone's liking. **

**Please review! They make me feel motivated! :D **


	2. First Steps

**Hi everyone! I hope you enjoyed the first chapter! And now, on to chapter two!**

* * *

**Beauty in Rags**

Chapter 2: First Steps

"Mm, I see. So are you going to convince your dad to let them debut?" Meiko asked Kaito on the train. It was 10 in the morning and the two of them were heading to Crypton's Osaka branch.

"No, we're just going to the Crypton Osaka branch to grab the documents they need to fill out if they want to audition," Kaito answered.

"It'd be great if they do pass the audition, but it'll be extremely competitive. You and I have both seen how harsh the competition is. We've both been judges," Meiko said. "On average, out of a hundred auditions only five are chosen."

"I wouldn't worry about those two girls too much," Kaito reassured. "They're born with their talent. They just need to brush up on it and in no time I'm sure they'll be top idols. I know you can see their talent too."

Meiko sighed. "You really are your father's lapdog."

"You're so mean, Meiko. I'm doing this out of the goodness of my heart," Kaito said, feigning being hurt.

"You've already told your father about them haven't you?" Meiko asked. "If you have such high expectations of them, but they don't manage to even pass the auditions, your father will be furious with you, as if you didn't live up to his expectations. It's just like when we were younger too." After a long awkward pause, Meiko continued, "Sorry for calling you a lapdog."

The train stopped and Kaito reminded, "Here's our stop, Meiko. Let's go." With that, Kaito ended the conversation and stepped out on to the platform, with Meiko trailing behind him.

* * *

"Ah, Shion-sama and Sakine-san," the clerk at the desk greeted. "Here are the documents that you wanted." She then pulled out two large envelopes and handed them to Kaito. "You're working hard these days. It must be hard to keep up with college and constanly look out for talents."

Kaito gave a dazzling smile. "I get by. Thank you for the documents." He turned to leave, and Meiko gave the clerk a slight bow and followed Kaito.

"Y'know Kaito, I worry about you too much," Meiko said. "It's summer vacation, so I get that you're trying your hardest to find talents for the company's benefit, but there's still the songwriting and performance contest that we signed up for, and we haven't even started doing anything about that."

"Don't worry, we'll pull it off!" Kaito assured her with a smile.

Meiko's expression slightly darkened. "Stop doing that."

"Doing what?" Kaito innocently asked.

"Smiling all the time," Meiko answered. "Now, I never see you smile at anyone as truthfully as you did two years ago."

"Meiko, please don't go any farther than that," Kaito gently warned.

"Kaito, we've been friends for ten years. Why is it that you won't even depend on me anymore, like you used to?" Meiko questioned.

"I'm an adult too Meiko. You've been there for me since I was nine, always taking care of me and cleaning up my messes, and I'm grateful for that. You were like an incredible big sister, but I'm only a year younger than you, and I'm perfectly capable of doing my work by myself," Kaito said. He then took out the papers inside one envelope and mumbled, "Mm, I'll need to take them to a shop to have their photos taken."

Deciding not to say anything else, Meiko changed the subject, "Their names are Rin and Miku right? I think I'd like them to stay at my apartment for the time being. It beats not having a home for them to return to, and they'll get to eat home cooked meals, a nice bath, and warm beds."

"As expected of you, Meiko!" Kaito complimented. "If it wouldn't be any problem, please take them in. Oh, and as long as you don't mind me coming over to your apartment more often."

"You come to my apartment often enough," Meiko teased. "Whose fault is it that my food, especially my ice-cream, keeps disappearing?"

Kaito, being taller than Meiko, messed up her short hair adoringly. "I know, it's my fault. I can't help it, you know I love ice-cream!"

"I wonder what your customers' reaction will be if they found out you're an ice-cream addict," Meiko mumbled, while patting her hair back in place.

Kaito laughed. "I'm sure they'll still ask for me." He stopped laughing when he noticed Meiko staring up at him. "What? Jealous?" He ruffled Meiko's hair up again while chuckling. "You're adorable, Meiko. That's why you're always my favorite."

The brunette looked down as she walked and, unknown to the blue haired joker beside her, she was blushing furiously. _"Don't throw words like 'adorable' and 'favorite' so easily, you idiot host!"_ she fumed in her mind.

* * *

Kaito and Meiko arrived at the park where Rin and Miku always perform. Just as they arrived, the crowd dispersed, signaling the end of their performance. Rin and Miku recognized Kaito once the people scattered. "Kaito-san!" Miku greeted with a huge wave while Rin gave a small wave instead.

The two girls walked over to Kaito and Meiko, and Kaito introduced them to Meiko. "Oh, I saw you the other day too, when Len and the pink haired woman donated to us," Rin commented. "Nice to meet you, Meiko-san."  
"Just call me Meiko, without any honorifics," Meiko said. "I have a proposition for you girls." Since they're going to be talking for quite a while, they decided to have a seat on the grass. "I heard from Kaito that both of you are interested in auditioning for a spot in Crypton. So, here are the documents you two need to fill out." She handed the envelopes to the two girls. "There's nothing much. It just asks for your names, your pictures, your parents or guardians, and your address. For the guardians and address part, I have an idea for you girls. What do you think about moving in and living with me?"

"We couldn't intrude on you like that!" Miku panicked, feeling guilty all of a sudden. "I-I mean, you don't know us all that well, and Rin and I would feel bad if we were to receive such hospitality from someone who…"

"It's no big deal!" Meiko interrupted. "I've been living alone in my apartment ever since Luka moved out. Luka's the girl with pink hair that was with us the other day, by the way."

"We still feel really bad though," Rin mumbled. "Maybe we can help keep your apartment clean! Miku and I can't cook though, so we're going to be useless with meals. But we can definitely learn! We're fast learners."

"I appreciate your kind thoughts, but you two being there as roommates is enough for me," said Meiko.

Rin and Miku glanced at each other. "I-If you would have us," Miku and Rin said simultaneously while slightly bending their waists in a small bow.

"Then Meiko, you can take them to get their pictures taken," Kaito suggested. "Don't forget to make them look nice."

"Oh, you don't need to worry about that." Meiko grinned. "I plan to buy them a lot of new stuff as well."

"Well didn't you get attached really fast to them?" Kaito commented.

"Alright girls, let's head over to my apartment now," Meiko said, getting up. "I'll help pick out and shop for new clothes for you two in the evening."

"Can you please wait here for a while, Meiko?" Rin asked. "Miku and I need to get out stuff, not that we have a lot anyway."

"No problem! Take your time," Meiko said, and Rin and Miku ran off to collect the few things they have.

"They'll attract an enormous audience if they debut successfully. I have really high hopes for them," Kaito commented once Rin and Miku were gone.

"Y'know, instead of working part time as an **underage host**," Meiko said, emphasizing the 'underage host' part, "Why don't you become the girls' manager? That way you'll still be working for Crypton, you won't need to keep scouting, and your dad won't be able to keep criticizing you every time someone you found doesn't meet his standards."

"Maybe I could," Kaito pondered. "Well, I'll see if they can pass the audition first."

* * *

"Well, here we are," Meiko announced as she brought Rin and Miku into her apartment. She led the two girls into Luka's old room and told them to make themselves at home. Meiko then showed them where the bathroom was and where she kept her cleaning materials. Then, she went to her room, brought out two towels and two sets of clean clothes, and handed each set to Rin and Miku. "You two should shower first. Once you've finished changing, we can go out to shop for new clothes for you two!"

"I feel bad accepting so much from you Meiko," Rin said.

"Don't feel bad. I feel great doing so much for you two," Meiko cheerfully replied. "Now, one of you get in the shower first."

"Rin, you go in first," Miku offered. "If it's not too much trouble, can I ask you to teach me how to make a small snack, Meiko?"

"That's no trouble at all! Come with me then." Miku put her change of clothes and towel on the washing machine and followed Meiko to the kitchen, which was in the same room as the living room, while Rin stepped into the bathroom.

Once Rin stepped into the kitchen/living room wearing Meiko's oversized clothes, Miku bounced over to her and excitedly showed her the very first snack she made, which was a simple onigiri. Miku bounced up and down when she asked Rin to try it. The younger blond took a bite and almost immediately, she had sparkles in her eyes. "This is so much better than convenience store onigiris," Rin praised as she kept shoving the onigiri in her mouth.

"Right, right?" Miku agreed. "And it's super easy to make one you have the ingredients." Miku then pat Rin on the head once and headed to the bathroom to shower and change while Rin eagerly skipped towards Meiko to learn how to make onigiri.

* * *

"Ok, now that both of you've had your fill of snacks, it's time to go shopping for new clothes," Meiko announced. "Not to sound insensitive, but do you have any clothes your parents left you or…?"

"Not really. Not decent ones anyway. They're all torn," Miku answered. "We have some photos of our families, some leftover food we bough from convenience stores, and of course, our meager savings."

"Ok then, I'm buying you two brand new clothes!" Saying so Meiko led the two girls out of the apartment, locked the door, and walked to the train station, where she also paid for their tickets.

Once they arrived at the mall Meiko usually shops at, the older girl starts searching through the hung clothes and kept making the two younger girls try on the many clothes she chose. In the end, Rin decided on a white sailor shirt with a black collar and a yellow ribbon and matching black shorts. She then chose to wear white shoes with black loose leggings while Miku chose a light gray sleevless shirt with a collar complimented with teal colored tie and a black miniskirt with a stripe of teal decorating the bottom rim. She chose to wear black thigh high boots to finish her outfit.

"Those look great on you two!" Meiko praised after she carefully examined Rin and Miku. "Now, try these on." She handed Rin three hair pins and a white headband with a white ribbon on top. Then gave Miku two hair bands, both of them black with a stripe of dark pink coloring the middle. "Rin, try sweeping your front hair to the left and put one pin to keep it in place, and put the other two to keep the hair on your right from falling. And of course, the headband makes you look like the cutest bunny alive."

Rin did as she was told and took a look in the mirror. "Wow, you're good at this Meiko," she complimented.

Meiko turned to Miku and continued, "Now Miku, your hair's really long, so I think it'd be best if you parted your hair into twin ponytails." Just like Rin, Miku followed Meiko's advice, and was extremely satisfied with her simple, but neat hairstyle. Meiko checked her phone for the time, and said, "Well, we still have some time to take your photos, so let's take care of that now." She quickly paid for Rin and Miku's new clothes and accessories, turning a deaf ear to the two girls telling her that they'd use all of their savings to help pay.

* * *

After getting their photos taken, Rin and Miku followed Meiko back to her apartment. The two girls wanted to learn more about cooking, so Meiko had them watch her cook dinner first before letting them do anything. "Don't worry, you two will learn slowly. No need to rush," Meiko reassured when Rin and Miku seemed a little down because Meiko didn't let them even touch the cooking utensils.

While they ate, Meiko helped Rin and Miku fill out the audition forms. The two girls, having lived on the streets for so long, couldn't read higher level kanji, so Meiko had to help them. Meiko offered, "The form's due in three days, but I'll drop it off tomorrow for you two and keep you posted on the audition's time and date."

"Meiko, you're so nice," Miku gushed. "You'd take in two total strangers and not even flinch. You're doing so much to help us."

Rin nodded. "Even introducing us to the auditions and teaching us how to cook."

"You two aren't dangerous, and I like helping people," Meiko laughed. "Don't worry too much, ok? I feel like you two still feel a little uncomfortable accepting my hospitality, but that's fine. Go get some rest now." Meiko then collected their audition forms while Rin and Miku headed off to go to sleep.

Just a moment after Rin and Miku left, Meiko's cell phone rang. "Len?" Meiko muttered after she checked the caller id. "Hey, Len," she greeted.

"Hey Meiko. I heard Rin and Miku are staying at your apartment," Len started.

"Yeah they are. Did you want to talk to them?" Meiko continued.

"Nah, I just wanted you to pass a message to Rin. I'm thinking of meeting up with her tomorrow to talk about my manga," said Len.

"Ah right, Kaito told me you were going to use Rin as a model," Meiko said.

"So I'm thinking of coming over to your apartment to pick her up in the morning, around 10," Len continued.

"I think that's fine. I can tell her tomorrow at breakfast. She and Miku already went to sleep," Meiko said.

"Thanks Meiko. Good night." Len then hung up after Meiko bid him good night as well.

* * *

**Yay! Second chapter done. :D How do you guys like it so far? I'm a little bad at writing fics at a fast pace, so I'm sorry if my long chapters are boring you. . I'll try to pick up the pace if you guys think it's going too slow. **

**Please don't forget to review! :)**


	3. Model of the Day

**Hi again everyone! This time, I have a longer chapter, and some plot development and a slightly longer chapter. I hope you enjoy, and please review when you get to the end!**

* * *

**Beauty in Rags**

Chapter 3: Model of the Day

The next morning, just like he said, Len came to pick up Rin. Miku decided to go with Meiko to Crypton since she wanted to know what the building was like. Rin and Len took a different train than Meiko and Miku. On the train, Rin asked Len, "Where are we going now?"

"My dorm," Len answered. "My roommate, Piko's there too. You've seen him. Remember the guy you saw me with the other night? He has silver hair that really stands out and differently colored eyes."

"Oh yeah, I remember. You threw his little box," Rin said.

"That was a hard drive," Len corrected.

"A hard drive?" Rin repeated, confused.

"It's like a place to store data from computers," Len explained quickly. Rin, having been on the streets for so long, hadn't been in contact with electronics or technology at all, so she was still a little confused. "If you're interested, you can ask Piko about anything technology related. He's a pro at it."

* * *

Once they got to Len's dorm, the first thing he did was introduce Rin to Piko. "You guys have already met, but Rin, this is Piko Utatane, and Piko, this is Rin Hatsune."

"How are you?" Piko asked, referring to the other night's incident.

"I'm fine, thank you," Rin replied. "It's thanks to you and Len's help."

"First name basis already?" Piko commented.

"I prefer to call people by their first names," said Rin. "Sorry if that's a little weird. I kind of picked up that habit from Miku." Rin's eyes wandered around Piko's side of the room, curious about the various electronics he had.

"That's not weird," Piko assured her. "You can just call me Piko then, and I'll also call you Rin." He saw her awestruck expression as she was examining his electronics, so he asked, "Are you interested in electronics?"

"I actually have no idea what any of those are," Rin replied honestly, pointing at Piko's technological collection.

"If you like I can show you the simple ones first and explain how they work," Piko offered.

Being the ever curious individual, Rin nodded in excitement. "Thank you! I'd love to see them. I've seen people using their little thin book-like things in the park, but I've never seen what it actually does."

"You're talking about this right?" Piko asked as he grabbed his iPad.

"Yeah! It just looks like a blank tablet," Rin murmered.

"It's called an iPad. I'll tell you more about this after you've finished modeling for Len. He seems to want to start now," Piko mentioned, pointing at Len who looked just a little impatient.

"Oh, yeah, sorry Len, I got a little carried away," Rin apologized.

"No worries. Take a seat over there, on my chair," Len directed. Rin did as she was told while Len grabbed his sketchbook and pencil from his desk and plopped down on his bed. Piko then went back to doing his own business. Len said, "I'm going to try doing some rough sketches now, so I'll need you to stay still for a while, ok?"

Rin obeyed and sat still while Len started sketching. Although her body stayed still, her curious eyes wandered around. Her eyes darted around the room, taking in tiny details. She then fixed her eyes on the boy in front of her. She noticed how deeply engaged he was in his sketch; she examined the long strokes, then short strokes his left hand made and soon found herself staring at his hands. Although he was a boy, his hands were well kept; the nails were trimmed and cleaned, and there were no dry skin patches on his hands.

She could feel Len glance several times at her, and soon her eyes were travelling up to take a look at his face. At that time he was staring at his sketchbook, allowing Rin to fully examine his facial features. Len's blue eyes drew in her gaze and she found herself staring at his eyes for quite a while. It was only when Len looked up and met her eyes that she was a little unnerved and lowered her eyes in slight embarrassment. _"He has really beautiful hands and eyes,"_ thought Rin.

Len has been working in silence for a while now, and Piko showed no signs of starting a conversation with either Rin or Len, so Rin decided to talk first. "So Len, what kind of storyline did you think about for your manga?"

While his hands kept moving Len answered, "The plot's not properly developed yet, but I'm thinking of making it a slight fantasy, tragedy, and romance. One of the main characters is a sick, disabled girl who lives in an attic. She never had a friend before, and no one ever visits her, not even her family. So, she uses an old mirror in the attic to pretend that her reflection is her friend. I'm basing that girl's character on you. One day, instead of her reflection, she sees a young boy in the mirror. He claims to be a magician and tells her that he will grant all her wishes. They become fast friends and the once deserted attic is now filled with laughter. But in the end, the boy has to leave, even though the girl begs him not to. The mirror shatters but the girl decides to keep waiting until she meets him again."

"Wow, you already planned it out well," said Rin. "I already feel sorry for the characters."

"That's my rough plot right now, and that part's from the girl's point of view. I'm still developing the story from the guy's point of view, which will explain why he has to leave and how he appeared in the mirror."

"Who are you using as a model for the magician?" Rin asked. Len hesitated and didn't seem to be able to reply right away.

Piko answered, "Himself."

"Piko…" Len murmered.

"What? You're not embarrassed to be using yourself as a model are you?" Piko teased. "Or did you just not want Rin to think putting yourself in your manga is lame?"

Len sighed. "I'm just going to ignore you."

"I'm sure your manga will be a success," Rin quickly commented to dissolve the slight gloomy aura surrounding Len.

* * *

After about an hour of drawing and modeling, Len cleaned up while Rin stood up and stretched. "Do you guys wanna have lunch now? I'll order from our usual restaurant," Len asked.

"Sure," Rin replied while Piko gave a thumbs up to Len, without looking away from his computer screen. "I don't have much money with me right now, but let me pay for part of the meal."

"You can pay me back by being my model until I finish my manga," Len said. "You don't have to feel bad about it, Rin. Plus, once you and Miku make it as idols you'll be the ones who're treating us," he teased.

"We'll definitely pass the auditions!" Rin enthusiastically announced.

"I'm sure you will," Len assured.

"You and the other girl are going to audition to become idols?" Piko asked, finally tearing his eyes away from his computer screen. "Which company?"

"Crypton, I think," Rin answered.

"Isn't that Kaito's dad the owner?" Piko asked Len, earning a nod from the blond, who was dialing the restaurant's number. "That company's really famous in the music industry. You and the other girl, Miku was it, must be pretty good."

"Thank you," Rin quietly thanked.

"Y'know, Len used to sing for fun back in middle school too," Piko told Rin. "I still have a video of the time he sang at our cultural festival about three years ago, back when we were in our second year of middle school."

Len, who just hung up the phone, immediately stood up and protested, "Piko, don't you dare show her that video."

"Too late," Piko said, right after he opened the file and pointed to the monitor. Rin watched, standing beside Piko while Len buried his face in one of his palms in embarrassment.

In the video Len looked much younger, and was wearing tight booty shorts with a belt wrapped around his waist, a v-neck shirt that showed off quite a bit of his chest, long, black arm warmers and black loose leggings that reached his mid-thigh.* Rin found herself staring at his costume and had no idea how she should feel.

"_That outfit looks good…too good on him,"_ Rin mentally confessed. _"But I also have an urge to laugh!" _

"The song he sang then was called 'Butterfly on you Right Shoulder', and was written by Len along with some help from me," Piko explained. "Back in middle school the girls in his class always fawned over how 'cute and childlike' he looked and how they wanted him as a 'little brother'. Then when he was nominated by his class to sing at the cultural festival during second year, the girls went to work and made that outfit for him. They called it Len's 'Punkish' outfit."

"It…suits you," Rin told Len, who was now beside her. "But it also makes you look like a…stripper?" At that point Piko burst out laughing and Len facepalmed again. As if she wanted to do damage control, Rin continued, "But your song's very catchy! Your voice is really nice and you dance really well!"

After Rin finished watching the video, she praised Len again for his performance, trying her best to mend the blond boy's hurt pride. A few moments later, Len's cell phone started ringing. "Hi Meiko," he greeted.

"Hey Len! Can you pass the phone to Rin for a while?" Meiko asked.

Len pressed the phone to Rin's ear and told her to keep it there. "Hello?" Rin greeted.

"Hi Rin! Have you had lunch yet?" Meiko asked.

"Len ordered food for us but it hasn't arrivd yet," Rin replied.

"Oh ok then. Miku and I are grabbing lunch at a café. We just finished submitting your audition forms at Crypton," Meiko said.

"Rin, Rin! Crypton's building is so cool!" Miku's voice interrupted. "It looks so futuristic inside! I can't wait until the audition!"

"Yeah, Miku's pretty excited about the audition, which by the way is a week from now. That's only the first round. In the first round, you'll be asked to follow and keep up with an instructor's dance moves. One you've cleared the first round, you'll be chosen to go on to the second round, which is where you'll perform a song and be interviewed. You can perform any song. It can be a song of your own creation or one that's already sung by an artist. The second round's just three days after the first round, so you and Miku better be ready."

"Ok Meiko. Thanks for telling me," said Rin.

"Have Len send you back to my apartment ok? Miku and I will be back in about two hours. I want to buy you two new phones so I'm taking Miku with me to see what model she and you would like. Bye Rin!" Meiko then hung up the phone and Rin gave Len's phone back to him.

Once their food arrived, Len, Rin, and Piko sat on the floor, around a small table and started eating. At the same time Piko took his iPad, taught Rin how to use it, and told her about the many applications that can be installed and used on it. Len contributed a little too, even though his knowledge about electronics is just average.

"Since you're interested in music, I think this app will be useful for you," Piko suggested, opening up the said application.

"What does it do?" Rin asked.

"It's a music making software that I personally developed for the iPad," replied Piko. "You can use it to test and create new songs easily."

"Wow!" Rin gasped in awe. "Miku and I wrote our own song but it took us a really long time since we only had our voices as instruments. What's your app called?"

"It's called Vocaloid," Piko answered.

"Even big shots are using his application," Len continued. "It's that popular."

"If you want, I can teach you how to use this application too. It's really easy, and I can even lend you my iPad," offered Piko.

Rin couldn't seem to refuse his offer so she replied enthusiastically, "Thank you so much! You're a genius, Piko! You're like a technology god!"

The silver haired boy smiled earnestly and blushed slightly at Rin's praise. "Not many people give me that much praise."

"That's cuz you almost never go out of the room except for school and you don't even talk to people other than our small group of friends and the guys from your tech club," Len pointed out.

"Other people don't understand the beauty of technology," Piko defended. Within the next two hours, Piko taught Rin how to use the Vocaloid app and she even tried recording part of the song she and Miku created, called "Promise".

* * *

"Thank you so much for lending me your iPad, Piko," Rin thanked as she bowed. She and Len were about to leave the dorm to go back to Meiko's apartment.

"You're welcome. You can give it back to me anytime. I have an older model of the iPad to use if I need to," Piko said. Then he waved, bidding Rin and Len goodbye.

"Piko's a pretty nice guy," Rin commented as she walked with Len to the train station. "You two get along well too."

"It's good to see that you had a good time," Len said with a small smile.

"I learned so many new things today!" Rin exclaimed. "When will I get to see your drawings Len? I wanna see how you drew my character."

"I'll show it to you once I've finalized it," Len promised.

Once they got back to Meiko's apartment, Len just rang Meiko's doorbell and dropped Rin off when Meiko answered the door. After taking a shower, Rin started telling Meiko and Miku about what she learned from Piko and gushed about how Len looked so serious when he drew. Miku, in turn, told Rin about how awed she was inside the Crypton building and how she learned to use her new phone. Rin and Miku then took turns teaching each other how to use the iPad and phone. Time passed quickly and the two of them then played around with the Vocaloid app while Meiko made dinner.

Starting the next day, Rin and Miku practiced dancing and even went outside to jog in the mornings to prepare for the first round of the audition. Their days basically consisted of training themselves physically and using the Vocaloid app to make the instrumentals for their song, with full confidence that they will pass the first round. During that time, Meiko left Rin and Miku in their rooms and decided not to listen to their song in progress.

One week flew by, and before they knew it, it was already the day of the first audition round. Like usual, Meiko took Rin and Miku to the Crypton office. "Now I'm getting a little nervous," admitted Miku while playing with one of her long twintails.

"You two lived on the streets for a long time, so you probably have better physical capabilities than any other people who are auditioning today. You'll be fine!" Meiko reassured. The staff then announced that the first round would be starting and to follow her, so Meiko waved goodbye to Rin and Miku and wished them good luck.

Rin and Miku followed the staff, just like the rest of the crowd, and found themselves in a large room that had mirrors all around. In the middle of the room was a young woman with long, flowing pink hair.

"Isn't that um… Luka?" Miku whispered to Rin.

"Yeah, I remember her too. She works here?" Rin replied in a quiet voice.

"Welcome to the first round of the auditions everyone. My name is Luka Megurine," the woman introduced. "What you all need to do in this round is to try and match my dancing. Music will be played from the speakers in the corners of the room, and cameras are installed in every nook and cranny of this room so that we can thoroughly examine everyone's movements later. I need everyone to spread out in an orderly fashion and make sure you have enough space so that you don't hit the person next to, in front, or behind you. Now, let's warm up."

Luka led the group through multiple stretches while music flowed through the speakers. Once she finished the warm up, she announced, "This is where we start getting serious." Just after she finished speaking, the speakers started playing an upbeat song and Luka started her dance. Some people got a bit flustered and couldn't start at the right time. Luckily, Rin and Miku both has good attention spams so they managed to start at the exact time Luka did. Throughout the course of the song, Rin and Miku not only kept their eyes fixed on Luka's back, but also her front using the mirror in front. They noticed that Luka not only danced, but also mouthed the lyrics of the song, which was especially obvious when the phrase "Luka, Luka Night Fever" came up.

Once the song was over, most of the group was panting hard already. Rin and Miku were tired as well, but not as tired as the rest. It hadn't even been 10 seconds when the second song started playing and Luka started dancing again. Some people, already exhausted from the first song, refused to go on, and plopped down on the ground. Others were tired, but still managed to start at either the right time or slightly later. Rin and Miku were among the people who managed to start at the right time once again.

After finishing five songs, there were only a few people who were left standing. "Congratulations everyone on finishing the first round," Luka announced. "Tomorrow, Crypton will send a mail to everyone who came today, telling whether or not you made it to the second round. If you do, the time and date of the second round will be included. The place is, of course, still here, at Crypton. I wish you all good luck." After speaking, Luka left from a different exit than the one the Rin, Miku, and the rest of the group came in from. The large door where the group came in from opened and two faculty members escorted the exhausted group outside, back to the main hall. Rin and Miku searched the hall for Meiko.

"There she is," Miku pointed after spotting Meiko. "She's with Luka."

Rin and Miku walked up to Meiko and once the brunette spotted them, she greeted, "Hey Rin and Miku! What did you think of the first round?"

"Tiring," Rin and Miku simultaneously replied.

"I saw you two in the mirror," Luka said. "You girls were two of the few people who managed to keep up with me and use the music to your advantage." She looked closely at Rin and Miku again and commented, "I feel like I've seen you two before. Weren't you the street performers we saw?"

"Yep! That's us," Miku answered. "I'm glad you remembered us."

"I never forget someone who puts on a great performance. Even without instrumentals I thought your song was beautiful," Luka praised.

Rin and Miku both bowed a little. "Thank you very much!"

"It's good that you two are auditioning here. Kaito acts fast," Luka said. "You two will be a great addition to the music industry."

"The results for the first round aren't out yet though," Rin commented.

"I've only started working part time here for a couple of months, but I can tell that you two can handle dancing easily," Luka complimented.

"You're so much better at dancing though!" Miku gushed. "You led us through five songs and you weren't even breathing hard! Are you attending the same university as Kaito-san and Meiko? Are you also Musicology and Theater Studies major ?"

"I am at the same university as them but I'm actually an Art History major," Luka answered. "Dancing and singing are my hobbies."

"I'm sure you can debut as an idol if you auditioned too," Rin said. "Aren't you interested?"

"I'm more interested in art than in the music industry. Plus, I have another part time job, and I still have to finish up my college studies," Luka patiently answered.

"Y'know girls, when Luka came to Osaka U, it wasn't long until guys starting hitting on her left and right," Meiko revealed. "She even won the title of 'Miss Osaka U'! Even at her other part time job, which is being a waitress at a café near our university, she constantly keeps getting hit on by male customers!"

"That's…wow," Miku and Rin gaped.

"Too bad for her fanboys though. She's already dating a guy named Gakupo. They've actually been dating since high school," Meiko whispered.

"Too much information leaked, Meiko," Luka warned.

"You're a year younger than me, Luka, at least I can tease you a little," Meiko grinned. "You're my cute underclassman! Anyway, when is your boyfriend coming back from his trip?"

"In about a week. Don't forget, school opens in about two weeks," Luka reminded.

"I remember, don't worry," Meiko reassured.

"I've lived with you for a year Meiko, and I know you happen to forget when school opens sometimes," Luka reminded.

"I've become more responsible now, Luka," Meiko said. "I've even taught myself how to cook!"

"That's great," Luka said with little enthusiasm.

"I feel like Luka's the upperclassman here and Meiko's the underclassman," Rin commented. Miku nodded in agreement.

* * *

*** This is Len's Punkish module in the Project Diva games, in case anyone was wondering. **

**So, here's the end of chapter 3! Please review and tell me what you think! :3 Thanks for reading everyone! **


	4. Enjoyment Conquers Nervousness

**Hi everyone! AoiCherry here, and I'm back with chapter 4! I hope you guys will enjoy reading this chapter too, and it's a little longer as well. Enjoy reading, and please review too!**

* * *

**Beauty in Rags**

Chapter 4: Enjoyment Conquers Nervousness

The morning after the first round of the audition, Meiko brought an envelope from her mailbox to Rin and Miku during breakfast. "It's from Crypton. Open it," the brunette urged.

Rin nodded towards Miku, telling her to open the envelope. The tealette gulped once and started tearing the seal. Then she, Rin, and Meiko leaned over to read the results.

"We…We passed! It said we passed right?" Miku asked.

"You definitely did! Congratulations you two!" Meiko congratulated.

"Thanks!" Miku and Rin said at the same time.

"So now you have today and tomorrow to practice your song," Meiko reminded.

"Miku and I are already done with the instrumentals," Rin said. "All we have to do now is to practice singing together again, with the instrumentals."

"Happy practicing, you two. I'm looking forward to your final product," said Meiko. The three of them finished up their breakfast, then Rin and Miku headed to their room while Meiko cleaned up the plates.

* * *

"Len, Len, we're going on to the second round!" Rin squealed after she called Len.

"Congrats!" Len replied. "Piko, Rin said they got through the first round… Piko said congrats too, Rin."

"Thank you," Rin thanked. "Miku and I are thinking of practicing both today and tomorrow, but after the second round, we can meet up again."

"Yeah, you two should focus on the audition right now. I'll text you the times and days that I'll be free," Len said. "Actually, Kaito was thinking about treating you and Miku right after the second round. What do you say?"

"Sounds good!" Rin replied. "I'll see you after our audition then." After that, Rin and Len hung up at the same time.

"You and Len have been talking on the phone a lot more often," Miku commented. "What if you two started dating?"  
"That's not possible," Rin rejected. "I'm just a model for him."

Miku raised an eyebrow after she spotted Rin's pink cheeks, then she grinned. "Oh? Are you sure you want to just be his 'model'?"

"Okay, let's drop this. We need to practice." Rin quickly changed the subject and turned on Piko's iPad to load the instrumental for their song.

* * *

Two days passed by quickly, and soon, Rin and Miku were back at the Crypton building. They already memorized the way there, so they went by themselves since Meiko left early, claiming that she had something to take care of. "Ready? Did you bring your lucky mike?" Miku asked Rin.

The blond girl put her right hand in her small bag and clutched a small toy microphone inside. She then took a deep breath, breathed out, and nodded. "Ready, and yes, it's in my bag." The two girls then walked into the building, waited for a while, then followed a staff member to the waiting area.

Once everyone was present in the waiting area, the staff member started handing out circular cards with numbers on them. "These numbers show the order in which you will go inside by. Number 1 will enter first. Wait for the light at the top of the door to turn green, then enter. Once the door closes, the light will turn red, and no one else will be able to enter. After number 1 has finished, he will leave from another door and number 2 won't be able to enter until the light turns green again, and the door opens," the staff member explained. "Only three groups will be able to pass. I wish you all good luck." The staff member then left the waiting room.

A few moments later, the light above the door turned green, and person number 1 entered the next room. "Do you think we're the only duo in here?" Rin quietly asked Miku, who was holding a card labeled "4".

"There aren't that many people here in the first place, but I think they're mostly solo singers," Miku answered just as quietly. "I think I saw another duo and one trio though." Miku's eyes darted around and spotted two girls huddled together and three men sitting on the floor together.

Some time passed, and after numbers 2 and 3 finished their auditions, Miku and Rin waited for the light to turn green. Once it did, the two of them breathed in, then breathed out, took each other's hand, and walked in the room.

"Number 4, Miku and Rin Hatsune," a familiar voice announced. Rin and Miku looked at the panel of judges and kept staring.

"Meiko and Kaito?" Rin whispered.

"They're judging too? No wonder Meiko refused to listen to us practice," Miku quietly told Rin. Apart from Meiko and Kaito, Rin and Miku didn't know the other three judges.

One of the other judges, mentally dubbed four-eyes by Miku, spoke, "First question is for Miku Hatsune. Why did you want to take this audition?"

Miku answered, "I've always loved singing and dancing. Ever since I was little, singing had been my solace. It was the only thing I had during times when I thought it was better for me to just disappear." The tealette's once smiling expression quickly changed into a more solemn one. "Also there were times when I thought I had nothing important enough in my life, but whenever I see someone performing or whenever I sang to myself, I thought, 'I'm glad to be able to sing. I want to continue singing.' Then I met Rin and found out that she loves to sing too, so we became fast friends. Long story short, I want to spread my love for singing to the world, along with Rin, since she was the first person I ever sang seriously and passionately with."

The judges nodded as they listened to Miku's answer. The judges then kept bombarding Rin and Miku with questions, including their experience in performances and whether or not they wrote their own songs. "So the piece you're going to perform for us is your own work?" Judge Four-Eyes asked.

"Yes. It's the very first song Rin and I composed and it holds a very special place in our hearts. It's titled 'Promise'," Miku answered.

"Let's hear it then," Kaito urged. On cue, the instrumental version Rin and Miku created started playing in the room. The two girls took their places and started dancing to the tune.

**When I touched your wound, you were shaking slightly **

**Not knowing where to go, you were looking at the distant sky **

**It's not like I want the answer to the pain in my heart **

**As long as you're here I just need to fulfill my promise**

The judges, along with Kaito and Meiko listened to their song intently, paying attention to the lyrics as well, noting how meaningful they were.

**The motionless feelings will go with the tomorrow we'll spend together **

**There is a thing that blocks that light, I will flick it away **

**The breaking world is now starting to show the meaning of "echo" **

**I make an oath in my heart to protect you, forever...**

The song ended and the girls ended their performance in their finishing pose. Kaito and Meiko started clapping and the other judges, awed by their performance, quickly snapped out of their stupor and clapped along with Kaito and Meiko. "I can tell by the lyrics that you two are very important to each other," Meiko commented, smiling. "Like you said, this song must be very special to you two."

"Thank you very much for participating in the audition, and congratulations for getting this far," the judge with the glasses concluded. "We will notify you of the results in two days."

"Thank you very much!" Rin and Miku simultaneously thanked and bowed. The two of them then exited the room.

* * *

"I thought that went well," Miku commented while she and Rin walked toward the train station. "We definitely nailed our song!"

"We did!" Rin cheered. "Hopefully we'll make it to the top three!"

"I'm sure we will, Rin," Miku reassured.

As they were walking back to the train station, Rin's cell phone beeped. She checked her phone and said, "It's a message from Len. 'How was your audition?' he said."

"How did he know we'd finish at this time?" Miku commented, looking over Rin's shoulder at the message.

"Probably from Kaito." Rin then typed. " 'We just finished. Miku and I both think we nailed it!' And…sent!"

"Is it just me or have you and Len been texting each other a lot lately?" Miku wondered with a sly grin.

"Well, we kinda have been in touch a lot more, but that's also mostly because of Len's manga. We talk about plot and character ideas and Miku, I can tell you that Len's manga will make it big," Rin rambled excitedly.

"Well aren't you enthusiastic about him?" Miku teased.

"It's not just him though, it's his manga," Rin mumbled, slightly embarrassed. Rin's phone beeped once again. She checked the message and read aloud, "That's great! If you don't mind Rin, can you come by my dorm for a while?"

Rin looked at Miku and the tealette said, "Just go. I can go back by myself." The two of them had already arrived at the train station and Rin took a look at the train schedule.

Rin typed an "ok" to Len, then she took out her lucky toy microphone out of her bag and handed it to Miku. "Can you take it back home with you? I don't want to lose it."

"Sure no problem." Miku took the mike and put it in her bag. "Have fun with Len!" Miku said, then got onto a train that just stopped while Rin waited for another train; one that would stop at the station near Len's dorm.

Once Rin arrived at Len's doorstep, she knocked a couple of times and a slightly weary Len answered the door. "Come in," he invited.

"You're looking a little pale," Rin observed. "Didn't you sleep well?"

"I was up all night sketching a rough outline of some pages. I wanted to show them to you as soon as possible," Len answered with a smile.

"I'm honored that you wanted me to see them so fast," Rin teased. As she followed Len to his desk, she also greeted Piko, who was, as usual, in front of his computer. Len showed her the pages he sketched out after Rin sat on his bed. She then looked through them carefully, fascinated by the drawings.

"They're just rough outlines, so they're not that good, but what do you think about them?" Len asked.

"…Your rough sketches don't even look like rough sketches. They're really good! I should ask you to teach me how to draw sometime!" Rin gushed as she examined the pages.

"You're giving me too much credit. One of the main reasons I could come up with this many ideas was because of you too, y'know," Len said.

"I just contributed some ideas to you, and that was only a couple of days ago through text," Rin said.

"You still helped me out a lot. Plus having you as a model was also a great inspiration," Len praised.

Rin's cheeks turned slightly pink. "Thanks Len, but you're plenty talented too." Rin suddenly had an idea. "Hey, why don't you teach me how to draw something right now?"

The blond boy blinked once, a little surprised, but then happily agreed. "Sure. I can teach you the basics of drawing manga characters."

"Yay! Thanks! So, so, what's the first step, teacher?" Rin enthusiastically asked. Len then took out his sketchbook and tore off a sheet of paper. Then he gave Rin a pencil, sat down beside her on his bed, and started teaching her the basics of drawing.

* * *

"It seems…strange," Rin commented while looking at her drawing. "Who am I kidding, it's horrible! The lines are all scribbly and nothing's proportional…"

"Practice makes perfect. You'll get the hang of it if you keep practicing," Len reassured while patting Rin's head.

Rin sighed. "Sorry I'm such a bad student."

"You'll improve, don't worry," Len said.

"Wow, that is horrible," Piko commented, suddenly crouching in front of Rin and Len.

"I knooooowww," Rin drawled. "I'm horrible at drawing." Rin's eyes then wandered to Piko's computer screen. "What's that on your screen?"

"Ah, it's an MMORPG game. Do you wanna try playing?" Piko offered. "Maybe you'll be a better gamer than an artist."

Rin pouted but then retorted, "Teach me how to play and I'll kick your butt at it!"

"Sure, sure," Piko said, unfazed.

Interested in how Rin will fare, Len also watched Piko teach Rin the basics of playing the game. The blond boy took notice of Rin's various expressions; one of curiosity, of amazement, of happiness, and of frustration. When her avatar died in the game, the blond girl pouted, hung her head, then plopped her head down onto Piko's keyboard, which caused the silver haired boy to chastise her. Len chuckled while watching Rin's expressions and soon, he found himself not being able to keep his eyes off her.

"_Heh, she's so into the game. I kind of wish she would be as interested in drawing too,"_ Len thought. _"Ah, she died again…haha, I can never get tired of her expressions. I wonder why every time she comes into our room, it's full of life," _Len pondered.

"Yes!" Rin cheered. "I finally beat you! Take that!" Rin shouted at the screen. "Piko! I did it! Finally!" She turned the rotating chair around and threw her arms around Piko's waist. "That was fun! Can I come by again and play this?"

Piko froze once Rin hugged his waist, but managed to answer, "S-Sure. I-It's too early for you to fight against me though. Do you have a computer or a laptop at your apartment?"

"I think Meiko does, but I don't want to use her computer just to play a game," Rin replied. "I'm sure she has school stuff to do too."

"Well, you can't play against me if you don't have a computer, but it's fine. You can practice playing on my computer," Piko offered.

Rin's face brightened up and she squeezed Piko harder. "Yay! Thank you, thank you! You're the best, Piko!"

Piko's started blushing both from Rin's compliment and her hug. "Y-You're welcome. Can you let go now? It's a little…"

Rin realized how much she's been holding on to Piko and quickly let go while blushing slightly as well. "O-Oh, sorry about that. I got carried away. Haha." She laughed nervously.

Len watched their banter from a slight distance, with a blank expression. _"Huh, how come she's having so much fun with him? I don't think I've ever seen her laugh or smile that much when we're working on my manga,"_ Len thought. _"It…bothers me for some reason." _

"Len, Len, come here!" Rin invited. "Come closer and watch me defeat other people! Since you're not that good with games, at least I'm better than you in this area now. I'll show you my power!"

"You're not even that good yet," Piko teased, but Rin ignored his comment.

The blond boy looked at Rin's sparkling eyes and laughed softly. He then walked towards her and stood right next to her while she started playing. _"One sentence from her and I'm already feeling much better. She's a strange one."_

* * *

A couple of days later during breakfast, Meiko brought in the envelope that contains the results of the audition. "Kaito and I just contributed to the judging. Even we don't know who the top three are, so I'm just as excited as you two to see the results," Meiko explained. She handed the envelope to Miku. "Go on, open it."

Rin and Miku gulped as Miku's trembling hands tore the envelope open. The two girls read the contents of the letter, and when they finished, Miku calmly folded the letter and placed it on the table. "We're number two!" Miku and Rin excitedly shouted.

"Congrats you two!" Meiko said while she clapped her hands. "I knew you could do it!"

Miku and Rin kept jumping up and down. "We're gonna debut! We're going to debut in a week! I can't believe it!" They kept saying over and over.

"I can't wait until you two become full fledged idols. I'm so proud of you," Meiko praised. She took out her cell phone and texted Kaito. "I'm telling Kaito the good news. He'll be thrilled."

The news quickly spread around in their friend group and soon, Miku and Rin were drowning in everyone's congratulations. Len, Piko, Luka, and Kaito all called them up and congratulated them. Kaito also told them that he would ask the company what they would need to do afterwards and call them back.

The next day in the evening, Meiko brought Rin and Miku to a private room in a fancy restaurant, and waiting for them were Kaito, Len, Piko, Luka, and Luka's boyfriend, Gakupo. The gang quickly introduced Rin and Miku to Gakupo and soon, they were eating and celebrating. At first Rin and Miku felt bad eating so much expensive food, but Kaito reassured them that it was all on him and that he's able to pay for everything, since he had some money saved up from his job as a host.

"You girls are awesome!" Kaito praised. "You managed to make it past the grueling auditions, and now you're going to debut. I can't believe that the girls I saw singing on the streets are here with us, going to become idols now."

"It's like a fairytale," Meiko commented. "You two used to live on the streets, but your overwhelming talent caught a scout's, aka Kaito's, attention and now you're on your way to fame! I'm so, so, so proud of you two."

"I've never heard you two sing, but you must be really talented if you even passed Crypton's audition," Gakupo said. "Maybe you can hold a mini concert for us right now."

"That's actually a great idea," Len agreed. "Sing for us, Rin, Miku."

The two girls looked at each other and nodded. "Ok!" They then started singing their song, "Promise", without any instrumentals, just like they used to on the streets. Their strong and beautiful voices filled the room and quickly captured the ears of their friends. Once they finished singing, the others applauded loudly.

"Wow, no wonder you two passed the audition," Gakupo said, awed by the girls' beautiful voices. "You even managed to get past Luka's test."

"They were very attentive, not to mention dedicated," Luka commented. "You two are going to be the center of the entertainment world after you debut."

"I-I'm sure there are many other talented idols out there though," Rin stammered, flattered by Luka's praise. "There are others who are much better than us."

"There may be, but you two can easily capture peoples' hearts," Luka calmly stated. "You two have a lot of charm."

"T-Thank you, Luka," Miku thanked. The tealette then turned to Kaito and said, "Rin and I will be in your care now. Please take care of us!"

Kaito smiled. "I hope to work well with you two as your manager. Rest assured, I'll make you two big stars. With your talent, it'll be a cinch."

Meiko held up her glass of sake and announced, "A toast! To Rin and Miku on their upcoming debut as the unit, 'Merodii'!" Luka, Kaito, and Gakupo all had an alcoholic drink in their hands while Rin, Miku, Len, and Piko held up either their water or juice. "Cheers!"

* * *

A week flew by, and during that time, Kaito worked with Rin and Miku and helped them prepare for their debut concert. Luka also helped with the choreography and dance practice while Meiko helped them improve their singing even more. Len would occasionally drop by Crypton and show Rin some of his manga pages. She finally saw the main character of the manga, and noticed how similar the character looked to her. _"I guess Len didn't really modify the character's traits much,"_ Rin thought. _"Oh well, I'm happy to have been his model."_

Then, came the day of Rin and Miku's concert. The tickets almost sold out, and crowds of people waited patiently for the duo who miraculously passed Crypton's audition. Rin and Miku gulped as they peeked at the large crowd from backstage. "I-It's more unnerving than I imagined," Miku stammered.

Rin nodded. "It's way too different from our street performances."

"Come on you two, you'll be fine," Kaito assured them. "Just do what you always do; enjoy singing and spread that happiness to the people who came to watch you. As your manager, I'm going to go first to announce you two as a unit, so you'll have some time to calm down on stage. Plus, Meiko, Len, and the others are in the front, cheering you on."

"I still feel very, very nervous," Miku admitted, slightly trembling as she took Rin's hand and squeezed it.

Rin seemed to have calmed down a little as she took in deep breaths and focused her eyes on Len in the crowd. _"Maybe thinking about Len's manga will help calm me down. Okay, 'Magical Mirror', 'Magical Mirror'…"_ Rin chanted mentally.

Kaito noticed that Rin had slowly started to calm down, but nothing was helping Miku's nerves. He rested his hand on Miku's head and hummed a small tune. His humming quickly grabbed Miku's attention and she found herself closing her eyes. The tune rang softly in her ears and had a soothing effect on her. Once Kaito finished humming, Miku opened her eyes again and noticed that she no longer felt nervous.

"That's such a nice tune," Miku sighed. "How did you compose it?"

"Meiko came up with it, actually," Kaito corrected. "When we were young, she would always stroke my head and hum this tune when I felt down. She could always calm me down whenever I was nervous, threw a fit, or whenever I just had problems."

Kaito removed his hand from Miku's head and suddenly Miku felt a small pain in her chest. The tealette was slightly confused. _"Wait, why did my chest feel a little painful? I thought my nervousness was gone_. _Oh well…"_

A few moments later, the crowd settled down, and Kaito proudly walked on stage. He did a quick introduction about Crypton and about himself. Then, he announced the girls' names, which cued Rin and Miku to walk on stage. The bright lights blinded the girls for a while, but then they got used to it. "Rin and Miku came in second in the Crypton audition. Today they will be debuting as the unit, 'Merodii'! Please welcome them warmly," Kaito announced, then he walked off backstage, giving Rin and Miku a thumbs up and mouthed a "good luck".

The hall erupted into cheers and applause when Rin and Miku bowed. The two of them held their mikes firmly and Miku said, "Thank you all so much for coming to our debut concert. Rin and I are very honored that you all came!"

Rin continued, "Miku and I will be singing a song that is very special to us. It's one that we wrote ourselves, and is called 'Promise'." After the audience's cheers died down, the music for the song started, and Miku and Rin started dancing to the opening tune. Then, Rin started singing her part, then Miku followed.

**When I touched your wound, you were shaking slightly **

**Not knowing where to go, you were looking at the distant sky **

**It's not like I want the answer to the pain in my heart **

**As long as you're here I just need to fulfill my promise**

**Until the tears that are left fade away there's a sad shine **

**I embrace it very strongly, as if there's nothing to bear**

**The motionless feelings will go with the tomorrow we'll spend together **

**There is a thing that blocks that light, I will flick it away **

**The breaking world is now starting to show the meaning of "echo" **

**I make an oath in my heart to protect you, forever...**

**A dry wind is flicking over the pages of a fairy tale **

**"I'm not alone," I feel that I could be stronger, just with those words **

**I spread my injured wings and attempt to fly again **

**If this voice goes through to you, then I don't have to be afraid of anything**

**If your memory ties your heart **

**Die it into the colour you want and draw your future with it**

**The strong bond is, yes, will tie us together strongly **

**As long as I live on I won't go away, so to the never ending sky I reach my hand out **

**Find the hope, the future you want, we don't have far, it will reach someday, and surely that's a feeling that never changes **

**Together, let's face the woven tomorrow**

**The motionless feelings will go with the tomorrow we'll spend together **

**There is a thing that blocks that light, I will flick it away **

**The breaking world is now starting to show the meaning of "echo" **

**I make an oath in my heart to protect you, forever...**

After the music died down, the hall was quiet for a few seconds. Then, like a tsunami, the audience roared with cheers and applause, with most of them asking for an encore. Rin and Miku smiled widely and looked at each other, extremely happy that their first performance went so well. The girls then looked down at the audience and saw their friends clapping for them. Meiko gave a thumbs up to the girls, looking like a proud older sister. Since the audience chanted "Encore!" multiple times, Rin and Miku decided to sing once more and fill the hall with even more cheers.

* * *

**Whew! Chapter 4 is done! Congrats to Rin and Miku for debuting as idols! I hope you all enjoyed reading this chapter, and hopefully also liked the small romance development I sneaked in there. :D **

**Please review! Reading your feedback makes me happy, and of course, constructive criticism is always welcome! :3 **


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